Soil salinity measurements

Abstract. The soil solution may contain both plant nutrients and toxic ions. The total salt concentration affects both osmotic pressure and plant water stress. This review describes the main methods of evaluating soil salinity. They are listed as extraction methods (saturation and other soil extracts, suction cups), displacement methods (pressure membrane, centrifugation) and electrical methods of total salinity measurement (salinity sensors, four-electrode methods and time-domain reflectometry). The methods are compared so that the reader may choose the one most suitable for his purpose, based on cost, on the inherent advantages or drawbacks of the methods themselves, on his need for single or repeated measurements and either estimates of total salinity or the concentration of selected ions.